Dowagiac's bats arrive just in time

June 03, 2007|LEWIS BAGLEY Tribune Staff Writer

STEVENSVILLE -- Because of a mishap, Dowagiac will take home a Division 2 district championship baseball trophy with the bat snapped off. How inappropriate. The Chieftains finally impressed their coach with their offense by beating Lakeshore, 12-7, in Saturday's championship game at Lakeshore High School. That win came after an 11-6 thumping of Edwardsburg in the morning semifinal. "Our strategy today was to have two 10-hit games," Chieftains coach Andy Kruger said. "All year, our pitching and defense have done it for us. The only question was our hitting." There were no questions Saturday. All told, Dowagiac (30-6) totaled 23 runs, 29 hits and scored in 10 of the 14 innings it played. The victories gave Dowagiac its first district title since 2001 and sends it to the Coldwater Regional next week against Comstock, the Sturgis district champ. It also marked the end of St. Joseph's three-year reign as district champs. The Bears were beaten by Lakeshore, 4-2, in the other morning semifinal. "These guys have talent," Kruger said of his team. "Team speed ... the defense is there ... the pitching ... We've told them that if we get hot at the end (with the bats), that's what matters." The Chieftains took control of the title game immediately with three runs in the top of the first, before adding five in the third to build up a 9-2 lead. Catcher Tim Bartee delivered the key blow in the third, a three-run homer off Lakeshore sophomore Zak Wasserman. Bartee had missed the last 10 days with pink-eye and looked bad in his first at-bat in which he struck out to end the three-run first. He didn't have a problem seeing on his next at-bat, however. "It was a fat, hanging curveball," Bartee said of the pitch he launched over the left-field fence. "I was pressing that first at-bat, but it was my first in almost two weeks. I just got cleared by the doctor to play (Friday) night. "But, it's hard to miss a high curveball." The pitching and defense did the rest for the Chieftains, keeping the Lancers at bay during the middle innings. Dustin Cox went six strong innings for the win. Sophomore Tim DeRyder had a big day for Dowagiac, with three hits and three runs in the nightcap, after having two hits and scoring twice in the semifinal. "We threw the kitchen sink at them and it wasn't enough," Lakeshore coach Mark Nate said. "We had three games in a row and we were on fumes. They really hit the ball today." Dowagiac 11, Edwardsburg 6: As opposed to the title game, the Chieftains didn't take control of the semifinal contest until late. The Eddies (16-12) led 3-2 after four before Dowagiac scored twice in the fifth and took command with a four-run sixth. Mathew Dodson had a two-run double in that frame. Eight of the 11 runs for the Chieftains came with two outs. Winner Jason Fryman pitched a complete game. Lakeshore 4, St. Joseph 2: A four-run third proved to be all the Lancers needed to move into the title game. Tim McNair scored the first run on a throwing error, while Zane Metz later delivered a three-run double with two outs. The Bears later loaded the bases in the inning, but Lakeshore senior Justin Gerschoffer struck out Ryan Johnson to end the threat. St. Joseph put two runners on in the seventh, but again Gerschoffer came up big, getting two fly outs to end the contest. LAKESHORE 4, ST. JOSEPH 2 St. Joseph (22-12) tried to rally behind a two-run home run by John Witt in the sixth. Lakeshore0040000 -- 4 7 3St. Joseph0000020 -- 2 6 2Justin Gerschoffer (W) and Zane Metz; Jarret Bross (L) and Nico Seifert. 2B: (L) Metz. HR: (A) John Witt Records: St. Joseph finishes 22-12. DOWAGIAC 11, EDWARDSBURG 6 Dowagiac1100243 -- 11 13 2Edwardsburg1020012 -- 6 10 4Jason Fryman (W) and Jacob Kling; Monty Orr (L) and Corey Johnson. 2B: (E) Nick Fedore, Johnson; (D) James Simpson, Keith Prak, Kyle Prak. Records: Edwardsburg finishes 16-12. Championship GameDOWAGIAC 12, LAKESHORE 7 Dowagiac3150201 -- 12 16 3Lakeshore0110023 -- 7 8 4Jacob Cox (W) and Tim Bartee; Zak Wasserman (L) and Mike Solak. 2B: (D) Tim DeRyder, Nick File; (L) Brad Anderson. HR: (D) Bartee. Records: Dowagiac 30-6; Lakeshore finishes 25-10. Lewis Bagley: Lbagley@sbtinfo.com